


Sweat, Cigarettes & Baseball

by tellfuckhead



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 07:24:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10692444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tellfuckhead/pseuds/tellfuckhead
Summary: "Get back at that Little League commissioner who kicked me off my baseball team for pissin' on first base."





	Sweat, Cigarettes & Baseball

"And if anyone even looks at you strangely, you call. You hear me?"

Ian resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his big sister. He heard her. He heard her then, he heard her this morning, last night, and six times yesterday too.  
He settled on nodding, finding it in his best interest to try settle his sister's nerves a little. 

"Here," she leaned over, opening the pocket of his backpack and slipping the small flip-phone inside, "the house phone is the only number on there, that's what you call, ok? If you get too tired or maybe even too nervous, you call stra-"

"Fi, I'm ok." Ian looked up at her and lifted his mouth into a small grin, "It's ok, I'm excited. Lip done this for two whole years and he loved it."

Fiona pursed her lips, her face showing forced relaxation but her eyes telling a different story. She nodded, shifting on her feet before wrapping her arms around her little brother. "You be good, ok? Have fun and I'll be right here in a couple of hours to get you." She reached up and tussled his curly, red hair before leaning in and planting a sloppy kiss on his freckled cheek.

He gave a toothy grin before pulling away, "Alright, alright." He glanced around, his face turning a light shade of red. He nudged her with his elbow as huffed out a small laugh, turning and beginning the short walk towards the entrance of the baseball field, only glancing back once to give his sister a final wave. "See ya, later!"

*

A grunt and a slam of a bag hitting concrete floor brought the coach's speech to an abrupt halt. Ian, who had been glancing down and picking his nails viciously - a habit Fiona often lectured him on - lifted his head at the noisy intrusion.

"Milkovich. Nice for you to finally join us." 

Ian's eyes landed on a scrawny figure in the corner, a bulky bag sat on the floor beside him. He didn't mean to stare - another bad habit that Fiona hated - but he couldn't help it. His brows furrowed as he took in the sight of the boy. He looked older, Ian noted. Perhaps around Lip's age. His collarbones stuck out profusely and his jawline was sharp, his blue eyes in a seemingly permanent slant. A very noticeable layer of dirt coated his skin, causing Ian's eyebrows to furrow together further. He realised just how much his sister had rubbed off on him when he got an overwhelming urge to offer the boy a shower and a burger.

Ian was pulled from his thoughts when the smaller boy's lips turned up into a scowl. He raised a pale arm and flipped the coach off, gritting his teeth. Ian's eyes widened in horror as chuckles chorused throughout the team. The coach simply shook his head, obviously more than used to the young boy's antics. "Sit your ass down." 

*

Ian huffed as he sat down on the bench, his eyes cast out on the rest of the team on the field. He tugged his bag towards him and let out a relieved sigh when he located his water bottle, happy to remove the slight ache of his dry throat. It was a particularly hot afternoon in Chicago that day, sweat trickling down Ian's temple. He lifted his arm to wipe it before his body was suddenly jerked forward, his bottle being snatched from his hand roughly.

"Hey!" Ian's anger disappeared from his face almost immediately as his eyes landed on the ever-prominent scowl of Mickey Milkovich. "Uh," he cleared his throat, shifting ever-so-slightly backwards on the bench, "that's mine."

The boy scoffed before taking another large gulp of the water and tossing the bottle back at Ian. "I was fuckin' thirsty, alright?" He eyed Ian warily before slumping down on the bench beside him. Ian swallowed, his body immediately tensing as the strong scent of sweat and cigarettes filled his nostrils. He kept his body stiff and eyes straight ahead, resisting the urge to grab the phone from his bag and get Fiona to come take him home. No, he was eight years old now, he doesn't cry when he gets nervous or scared anymore, he doesn't run away either. That's for babies, like Carl and Debbie. They cry when they get a fright or when they don't get their own way, that's because they're babies. Ian wasn't a baby. He clenched his jaw as he took a deep breath and attempted to relax back against the wall. His fake demeanour failed to prevent the jump his body made when the boy next to him let out a laugh. 

"You scared of me or somethin'?" Ian turned his head and was met with a small smirk, a cigarette propped tightly between it. 

"Aren't you a little young to be smoking?" He regretted the words the second they left his mouth. Mickey's smirk fell and immediately turned into a scowl, his eyes glaring at the redhead.

"You got a fuckin' problem with it, Red? Huh?"

Ian shook his head quickly, the urge to call Fiona rising quickly once again. He stuttered, his eyes casting away from the dark-haired boy. 

"I ain't fuckin' young either. I'm a whole ten years old." Ian's attention was drawn back to Mickey then, eyeing the boy's jutted out chin. He couldn't help the smile that rose on his lips and it didn't go away either, not even when Mickey narrowed his eyes at him and told him to fuck off.

It was another couple minutes later before either one of them spoke again, Mickey initiating the conversation. "Gallagher, is it?"

"Huh?"

Eyes narrowed at him once again. "Your damn name."

"Oh yeah. Gallagher. Ian Gallagher, actually." He didn't reach out his hand for Mickey to shake like Fiona had taught him to, getting the feeling Mickey may not necessarily appreciate it.

Mickey hummed, taking a final pull from his cigarette before putting it out on the bench beside him and tossing the bud to the floor. He snorted loudly and slouched further down the bench, his eyes glancing up and meeting Ian's. "Mickey Milkovich."

"I know who you are." Ian knew of the Milkoviches. Everyone knew about the Milkoviches. Terry Milkovich was infamous in the Southside, a mean old mug who he was warned to steer clear of often. Mandy Milkovich was in Ian's class. She didn't talk much and she rarely interacted with anyone but Ian had always thought she was very pretty. And Lip's black eye was only just beginning to fade away, a gift given to him by Colin Milkovich over a supposed Pokemon card debacle.

"Alright." Mickey's eyebrow was quirked up questioningly but Ian was thankful when he refrained his obvious curiosity. Silence fell upon them once again before Mickey piped up, "I ain't seen you here before."

"Yeah, I just really started. This is my first game, I've only been to some practises." He looked at Mickey curiously, "I ain't seen you at any practise?"

"Fuck practise."

Ian snorted, a grin appearing on his lips that grew even wider when he noticed Mickey fighting his own smile. "You're weird, Mickey."

Mickey raised his eyebrow, a retort very evident on his lips but a voice cut over them.

"Milkovich! Gallagher!"

They both lifted their heads at the sound of their coach, Ian standing abruptly.

"C'mon, get your asses out there. You're back in."

*

Ian bit his lip as Mickey swung the bat and missed. Again. He could hear the harsh curses leaving the boy's mouth as he clearly became more frustrated with himself. Ian's eyes snapped to their coach at the sound of his booming voice.

"Milkovich! Get your damn head in the game, son!" 

Ian could tell he was rapidly getting impatient with Mickey, as was a lot of their teammates. He frowned and looked back at Mickey, their eyes meeting briefly. He looked embarrassed and annoyed, his face having turned a slight shade of red.  
It was time to go again and Ian crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping that Mickey would get it this time.

"Goddamn it!" Mickey's angry voice rang through the air as he missed. Again. Ian flinched, reclining in his position as Mickey hit the ground with the bat repeatedly. 

"Milkovich! You hit the damn ball! You hear me? You hit it! This ain't no game of swing and miss, kid!"

Ian's eyes flickered towards their coach, the man's face a deep shade of red as he once again yelled at Mickey. 

"Don't fuckin' yell at me! I ain't no kid either!" Mickey snarled, snorting obnoxiously as he turned and spit on to the grass, his grip on the bat tightening. Ian's eyes focused on his knuckles as they went from a light shade of red to a very visual shade of white.

The ball was thrown and Mickey missed again. He flung the bat to the ground and kicked the grass in anger as he let out a string of loud curses. Ian flinched with each one, his eyes automatically finding their coach again as his booming voice filled the air once more. 

"Milkovich! Come the fuck on! What are ya doin', kid? You're embarrassing the team, you're letting us all down!" 

Ian frowned. He wasn't embarrassed. He looked towards Mickey and his jaw dropped in shock at the sight before him. Mickey had his pants to his ankles as he pushed down his boxers and whipped himself out, not even hesitating as he promptly began pissing all over first base. Ian's hand covered his mouth as laughter erupted from him, many of his teammates finding humour in the moment too. He couldn't help but laugh harder at the crowd's horrified mumbles, the coach's shellshocked expression and Mickey's proud smirk. 

"Milkovich!!!"

*

Ian walked towards Fiona with a huge grin on his face, his arms wrapping around his sister quickly before pulling away. "Hey, Fi!"

"Hey, buddy!" She grinned down at him, her hand ruffling his hair as she took his bag from him and hitched it over her shoulder. "You have fun?"

Ian's eyes focused on a small figure leaning against a tree a short distance behind Fiona. He had a cigarette in his mouth and his arms were crossed, a smug look on his face as he looked right back at Ian. The redhead resisted the urge to break out in a grin as he looked back at his sister. "It was certainly interesting."

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. This is my first time writing a fic so sorry if it wasn't the best. Constructive criticism is always welcome though!
> 
> 2\. This fic is simply based off of Mickey's line in season two, it's not canon. I'm aware that Mickey didn't know Ian was even on the baseball team with him. 
> 
> 3\. I hope you enjoyed! :)


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